Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-05-28

be TGcuAl V hc AIah III -NtfNe e--
 poor LerdO was overthrown ani driven into exile.
 Bv the way, this Senon Don Sebastian Lerdo de TIjads-who Was about the only soholsry president Mexico ever had-now resides permanently m tA5 city of New York. He is refined aud agreeable gentleman, greatly beloved by s coterie of admiring American iuends' and Is said to enjoy life Tn our metropolis far better than ever In his own disturb ed land.
 It's astonishing how differently things look when viewed from the stsnd-Pollt of ones own interest! President DIsz now finds himself ID ths situation ol Lerdo de Tgi.ia,-and ths y-ry pa- trlot who raised . revolution and sEcrI-
 feed thousands cf lives to the no-re- election cry, is now just as ready to | raise smother to keep himself m power. Disz has already been tgIce elected to the presidenoy-snd in really he has ! enjoyed the loaves and fishes three terms, for 1t is well known that when, ID iSSO. he yielded 10 his friend and ally, | Manuel Gonzales, he still retained the reins of government .hnd remained de fscto president. Gonzales being but a puppel in his hands.
 It has become quite the fashion in the United States 10 affirm that DIaz ls tar only president who has ever succeeded in keeping Mexico at peace by suppress ing revolutions: but such Is by no means the case. In the first place. the great est .'revolutoT" the country ever pro duced IS Disz himself; and like aspoIled child, 6s long as the arch-generator oi pronunciamentos and bloodshed pos sesses all there IS in tine country worth | fighting for, he will not return tO hls old tricks, sdsd any body but himself been | at the head of affairs during the last de cade. revolutions would have been the order of the hour, if in his power tO ID. ! stigste them. exactly Bs when, upon | trivial pretext. be involved the country m A terrible war to oust Lerdo, as Tre
 vious to that he had even ''proDounced' against Juarez. who Is now almost can onised as a ssint-slmply because ht | CDiaz) had not been the object of military | preferment.
 President DisZ IS R warrIOr. by instinct | as well as by education, and Is no les' | successful as a wicepuller and msnipu | lator. Yet with all his skill and schem ' ing. and the almost unlimited power | over Mexico which he holds VhO con | trolls his army and treasury, Le nB' never been able to entirely srppTes:
 revolutions ID thIs unhappy country | There has scarcely been month during l all bis administration when the army has not been cal!e1 upon 10 put dOsI
 a revolt somewhere, and the truth re-
 mains that the president is not nearil
 SO popular at home Es those who ar,
 psid by the Mexican government t'
 manipulate the alleged news would
 have the world believe.
 But he holds the Teins, and in thu
 country that counts for more than nm,
 points" in law. The press Is subsiiIse,
 and directly controlled by the govern venture to proceed upon the plR3 o
 many ID the |. 5. and dare tO iisagce' with the sdminIstratlOn-tO sEy nothing ! of offering violent opposi:ion-wou!, . find itself suppressed instanter. and thl . editor might consider himself lucAy ] DO worse than banIshment and coufsca j ton of property were his punishment There are thousands in Mexico whl strongly object tO Disz's dictatorship but of the two evils-thst of war or sub mission-they chose the latter, whlcI to them seems least. The country ! tired of fighting. snd the saying has be come current, ~a bad government l better than a good revolution" Not b any means is IL due to Diszs popularit or benefcent administration tha: ther has been fewer reyOlts during the las
 ten years, but that the impOverishc
 country had fought itself out and need
 ed 8 breathing spell. Also. as oiviliza tion advances. here Bs elsewhere, th "srts of peace" more and more engas the attention 0; the people. sud th 1, wiser leaders, anxious tO build up l, more permanent pros perity by encour
 aging commerce. agrcul.ure and mgnu , facturies, Tre wiling to coDcede muc for the litile-known luxury of pcliiica . quiet.
 Though Mexico is not prolific nf presi dentiRl timber, there Hre capable me- , among the various candidates, vino Rr nov collected at the capital city, await . ing the action of Congress in regard t
 the proposed amendment of the Constr
 tuition, allowing DIsz's reelection; an
 doubtless more than one of them woul rule the country as wisely for the peopl, ! if less shrewdly for his own interest. , than the present incumbent, Bu. theT , are not few complications. As DIg ! absolutely controls Congress, the arm f and the finances, Rs be manages th
 press to suit his own purposes and Ina < been saggcious enough tO do everyjhin l l possible toward developing rhilrost! and giylug security to foreIg
 cspitsl-he Is the hardest man to bea
 who ever occupied the presidentis chair. For years the great schemer hs
 been working. silently but effectively
 toward the end Of having that no-reelec
 tion clause of the Constitution which b
 sacrificed 90 many lives to preserve Il ? Teiadss' time. Events were not rip
 for it when he gave the office 70 hi } fsctotum GonZales- but now or never i ? the hour. If be carries the point, hi dictatorship will be complete and uu limited, and nothing short of Rn over Q whelming revolution, like those whic ] bsnished Iturbide and Santa Ana whe , their pretentious became uubeagAJle will ever unsest him.
 In order to continue Dlsz m the pres 3 idency longer than November 3Oih, lsSs
 Congress must decree flaw. 6uihor'zin.
 itself to extend any presidents term fo l AAfCh NA gNeAFs WANINfEA NuA
 gress shall consider it conducive to th
 national welfare 10 do SO; or else Kha body must boldly repeal the no-reelectiol amendment altogether. and thus throv
 out the old "bone" which has been th, cause of so much contention ID the past
 In either case, the initiative must proceed
 from 0 state legislature, and when ap.
 proved by two thirds of ,he states, theI
 only may Congress scOnstitutionallyi issue
 decree making it a law.
 But just there Is the rub. Osxacs snd
 Puebls, both of which states DisE absO.
 lutely rules, set the ball rolling in gooC
 shape; but though the carefully pre-
 pared legislatures of the other so-cslleC
 free and indepeDdenr states msy mos
 ofthem decide in favorlof ihe ssne,i |